Short-term serial magnetoencephalography recordings of fetal auditory evoked responses

The study objective was to determine whether short-term serial magnetoencephalographic (MEG) measurements would increase the odds in favor of obtaining fetal auditory evoked responses in normal fetuses. The recordings were performed in two phases using the newly developed 151-channel fetal MEG system, superconducting quantum interference device array for reproductive assessment. Ten pregnant subjects with gestational ages ranging from 30-35 weeks were recruited to participate. Daily recordings were performed over a minimum of 3 days during 1 week of gestation and repeated in the same subjects between 36 and 40 weeks gestation. In 80% of subjects, auditory evoked responses were detected at least once. In healthy fetuses, serial recordings over a short span of time increased the rate of detecting fetal evoked response. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.